Prospect Talent Score

Probability of Success

History

2008-09: Antti Tyrvainen made his pro debut as a 19-year-old, appearing in five regular season games and one playoff contest for Pelicans Lahti in Finland’s SM-Liiga. He had no points or penalties and was -1 in limited ice time for the Pelicans. Tyrvainen led the Pelicans U20 team with 104 PMs and scored 9 goals with 9 assists in 27 games. He had no points with 29 PMs in three playoff games.

2009-10: Tyrvainen split the season between Pelicans Lahti in the SM-Liiga and HeKi in Mestis (Finland’s second league). Tyrvainen was third on the Pelicans with 85 PMs despite skating in just 32 games and finished +6 on a team that finished twelfth in the league and allowed 31 more goals than it scored. Offensively, he scored 8 goals with 3 assists. In 25 games with HeKi he scored 10 goals with 9 assists and had a team-high 73 PMs. Tyrvainen scored 2 goals with 2 assists and 8 PMs in four games with Pelicans U20 team.

2010-11: Tyrvainen led the SM-Liiga with 186 penalty minutes in his first full season with Pelicans. In 52 games for the last place Lahti club he also scored 14 goals with 9 assists and had a -9 plus/minus. Tyrvainen signed a two-year, entry-level contract with Edmonton in June 2011.

2011-12: Tyrvainen skated in 55 of 72 games for Edmonton AHL affiliate Oklahoma City in his first pro season in North America. The Finnish forward provided the physical, energy presence that he displayed in the SM-Liiga and chipped in offensively for the Barons. His 71 penalty minutes tied him with Kirill Tulupov for third-most on the Barons and he was plus-nine with 6 goals and 13 assists. Oklahoma City finished first in the West Division and reached the playoff semifinals. Tyrvainen skated in all 14 playoff games and was minus-one with 1 assist and 20 penalty minutes.

2012-13: An early season injury kept Tyrvainen out of the lineup for nearly two months in his second season with Edmonton AHL affiliate Oklahoma City. The abrasive winger scored 3 goals with 2 assists in 32 games and was -1 with 65 penalty minutes. The Barons finished third in the South Division and reached the Western Conference finals. Tyrvainen skated in 16 of 17 playoff games, scoring 3 goals with 3 assists, and was +3 with 28 penalty minutes. He signed a contract to play for Jokerit in Finland in 2013-14 and was tendered a qualifying offer by Edmonton in July 2013, becoming a restricted free agent.

2013-14: Tyrvainen returned to Finland after signing a contract with Jokerit. Second only to Assat’s Jyri Marttinen in Liiga with 142 penalty minutes despite playing in just 41 of 60 regular season games, he scored 9 goals with 14 assists and was +10, averaging 14 minutes of ice time. Jokerit finished sixth in the regular season and was swept by HPK in a best-of-three preliminary round series. Tyrvainen was -1 with 10 penalty minutes and had no points in two playoff games.

Talent Analysis

Tyrvainen plays a ferocious, relentless, and fearless style and has a reputation in Finland as a dirty player who plays over the edge on a regular basis and hits to hurt. He is not without a modicum of skill but bringing energy and an undeniable physical presence is the core of his game.

Future

Tyrvainen was signed by Edmonton with the thoughts that he might provide a physical edge to complement the high-scoring young forwards in the Oilers' lineup. After spending two years in the AHL without cracking the NHL lineup he is back in Finland — skating for Jokerit last season and playing for Ilves in 2014-15 after Jokerit moved up to the KHL. Edmonton retained his NHL rights by tendering him a contract offer in June 2013 but at this point it appears unlikely he returns to North America.

Photo: Pittsburgh Penguins forward prospect Kasperi Kapanen had a somewhat disappointing 2014-15 season in Finland’s Liiga but finished well competing for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the AHL playoffs (courtesy of Justin Berl/Icon Sportswire)

Liiga has steadily seen some of the top young forward prospects in Finland head elsewhere rather than pursuing careers in the nation’s top domestic pro league. That happened once again in 2014-15 as two of the heroes from the 2014 World Juniors — KalPa Kuopio left wing Artturi Lehkonen (Montreal) and Teuvo Teravainen (Chicago), Liiga’s sixth-leading scorer skating for Jokerit in 2013-14 — are no longer playing in Finland. Read more»

Photo: Edmonton Oilers prospect Tyler Vesel was one of several freshmen for Nebraska-Omaha that helped the team to its first-ever Frozen Four appearance (courtesy of Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire)

The Edmonton Oilers currently have an interesting mix of collegiate and European prospects in their development pipeline, ranging from college superstars like defenseman Joey LaLeggia to a pair of fringe players across the pond that appear to be one foot out of the door in Antti Tyrvainen and Daniil Zharkov. Other prospects of note include John McCarron, who is wrapping up his four years at Cornell University, as well as Tyler Vesel, who made a splash in his freshman season with University of Nebraska-Omaha.